Aisha Fofana Ibrahim

Dr. Aisha Fofana Ibrahim is a feminist scholar, researcher, activist in Sierra Leone, and practitioner in Gender and Development who strongly believes that power and privilege should be used in the service of others. She straddles the divide between policy and practice through teaching gender studies at the graduate level and promoting women's empowerment in through advocacy. As a gender activist, her most current advocacy focus is on increased representation of women in decision making and leadership and in ensuring that a new and revised Sierra Leone constitution addresses the marginalization of women. Her current academic research focus is on gender and artisan mining and the impact of Ebola on women and girls but she also works on violence against women, women's political participation and women's narratives and auto/biographical writings.[1]

Work events

  • University of Sierra Leone's Fourah Bay College: Aisha Fofana Ibrahim is the Director of the Gender Research and Documentation Centre at the University of Sierra Leone's Fourah Bay College.[2]
  • The North-South Institute: In 2009-2010, she was the Helleiner Visiting Research Fellow at The North-South Institute, an IDRC-funded fellowship. While at The North-South Institute, Ibrahim's work focused on affirmative action as a means to overcome barriers that limit women's entry into politics.[2]
  • 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone: Aisha serves as President of the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone, which focuses on advocacy, policy, and capacity building for women's leadership.[2]
  • Carleton University: Aisha Fofana Ibrahim is a feminist scholar and activist and one of Sierra Leone's foremost scholars and practitioners in Gender and Development. She is the immediate past Director for the Institute for Gender Research and Documentation (INGRADOC) at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.[3]

Past President of Fifty Fifty Sierra Leone

Aisha Fofana Ibrahim is the Ebola and Constitutional Review Commission President of the 50/50 group of Sierra Leone during 2013-2015, a prominent civil society organization in Sierra Leone that focuses on ensuring women's equal political representation, and promoting gender equality in Sierra Leone. As an academic and practitioner, Dr. Fofana Ibrahim straddles the divide between policy and practice, both teaching about gender to graduate students as well as promoting women's empowerment in practice.[3]

"The executive and members of the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone would like to join all our sisters in condemning the ugly incident at the Lumley Beach during the early hours of Thursday 13th August 2015, involving the rape and murder of a young woman. As a women-focused organisation, we understand that an act of violence perpetrated against one woman is violence against all women. As such, we condemn such acts of violence, not only to the victim but to all women of Sierra Leone in general. It is no secret that rape is a powerful way to communicate dominance and possession. We hereby urge the Sierra Leone Police and all authorities concerned to work diligently and speedily to investigate and solve this case. Our society cannot function well if women are constantly violated and we need to have a zero tolerance to all forms of violence against women. We need to STOP violence against women, whether it is rape, beatings, domestic violence or murder." [4]

The Fifty Fifty Sierra Leone takes the following steps in people's daily lives:

  • Report any incidence of violence seen or heard of against any woman or girl.
  • Report any seeming threat on any woman or girl.
  • Do not be in any secluded or isolated area by yourself.
  • Walk in groups especially at night.
  • Fight back and make as much noise if you find yourself in any dangerous situation.

Person Bio

" I am a feminist scholar, researcher and activist and currently the Director of the Institute for Gender Research and Documentation (INGRADOC) at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. I have over 15 years of experience teaching and researching gender, literature and peace-building and have published in those areas. My current research focus is in the areas of women’s political participation and quotas, violence against women and gender and security sector reform processes. I am an executive member of the 50/50 Group, a non-partisan group that advocates for gender parity and women’s empowerment. I advocate for more women’s participation in decision making and for gender responsive policies and laws." [5]

References

  1. "Caprisl.org | Our Team". CAPRI Sierra Leone. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  2. Hernandez, Hortensia (20 July 2015). "Equal rights for women worldwide: Aisha Fofana Ibrahim". Equal rights for women worldwide. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. "Aisha Fofana Ibrahim". Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  4. "Lumley Beach - Statement from the 50/50 Group - 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone". 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  5. Sambhudas, Somnath. "Dr. Aisha Fofana Ibrahim". www.sl-writers-series.org. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
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